Friday, January 3, 2020

Army, PNP in Caraga to continue operations amid ceasefire

From the Philippine Information Agency (Jan 3, 2020): Army, PNP in Caraga to continue operations amid ceasefire (By 402nd Brigade, PA)

BUTUAN CITY, Jan. 3 -- Despite the declaration of ceasefire between the military and police forces and the terrorist groups last December 22, 2019, the Philippine Army and Philippine National Police (PNP) in Caraga remain vigilant as they continue operations to ensure peace in the region during the Yuletide season.

This is in response to the threat posed by the Communist NPA Terrorist (CNT) groups even after the declaration of a unilateral ceasefire by the National Democratic Front (NDF) representing the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA).

Brig. General Maurito L. Licudine, 402nd Brigade Commander, clarified that the ceasefire is only inclusive of the suspension of the military offensives of the troops under the 402nd Brigade, which means apprehension of items and individuals that are deemed suspicious and accomplice of crimes are not a violation to the said truce, which will take effect from December 23, 2019 until January 7, 2019.

“As such, we shall be on guard and will continue to be vigilant to thwart any CNT planned atrocities in a manner that is in line with the ceasefire mechanisms as this is also deemed significant to create the lasting peace that we yearn to promote here in our region,” added Licudine.

Such operations resulted in the postponement of the plenum, an annual gathering among the leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) which was scheduled to take place on December 29 at Sitio Bay-ang, Bgry. Lahi, Gigaquit in Surigao del Norte, according to the statement released by Ka Oto, spokesperson of the Guerilla Front 16, Northeastern Mindanao Regional Command, to the media practitioners from cities Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and Davao whom they invited specifically for the event.

The push for the continued operations by both the military and police forces in the region served as reinforcement as previous records involving ceasefires also showed the CNTs dishonoring the agreement and instead utilize the time to plan for a Tactical Offensive (TO) against the military. (DMRosales/PIA-Caraga)

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